A Long Walk Home
by salmon000001
Summary: It's late at night and Tony is the only one still at NCIS. He meets two people, but who are they and what are they doing there? They're not normal, he can say that for certain.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N A short story I wrote, 2 parts._

_Disclaimer; I don't own anyone apart from Annie and David._

_Part 1_

Tony clicked the mouse with a flourish and the computer emailed his report to Gibbs. He was finally done; McProbie had left a few hours ago, and Ziva had gone shortly after. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to play computer games instead of write his report, but he had been sitting alone working in the dim lights of the building for a long time now and was beginning to think it might have been a mistake. He gathered up his things, muscles protesting after being un-used for so long as he swung his back pack over his shoulder and stood up,. He walked over to the window and peered outside into the dark sky. Rain poured from the heavens and there was a blanket of cloud, he could see no stars. The skyscrapers lights sparkled and twinkled, street light cast and orange glow over the pavements. He was glad he wasn't out in that, glad that he wasn't walking home. His left hand slipped into his pocket and brushed his car keys.

Tony turned away from the window and walked towards the elevator. The silence echoed in his ears and the air had a certain dead quality to it. Tony was just glad to be getting out of there. He pressed the button and the elevator doors opened in front of him. He walked in and pressed the button for ground, and the elevator started moving downwards. Tony watched the lights moved, 2…….1…….G………………, but to his surprise, the elevator went down another floor, B……… the basement. Tony was frustrated and pressed the button for ground again, but nothing happened, and after a few violent presses and kicks, he finally accepted that the elevator was not going to move. He cautiously stepped out of the elevator, if this was one of the tech guy's pranks someone was going to find superglue on their keyboard. Tony walked down the dark hallway, a hand on his hip straying close to his holster. He peered into Abby's lab, but there was no-one there, the lights were dim, there was no music blaring. He walked on further down the corridor, still seeing no-one. He reached the end of the corridor, and opened the door in front of him, the one that lead to the evidence locker. He stepped into the room and squinted through the dim light, and his eyes met a sight that surprised him. There was a pale girl sitting in the evidence locker, about 4 years old, and clothed in a red dress. She was sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, mumbling to herself. When he entered, she looked up, and he saw a startled pair of bright blue eyes.

"Are you lost?" he asked, but she just stared at him. He walked to the gate that split the room in half, and punched in his code to open it.

"You should come upstairs, and we'll try and find your parents, and get you home. What's your name, do you know your parents name?"

"Annie," she said and then after a pause, "It's a long walk home." Tony reached out his hand to her and she took it and stood up. He walked back to the elevator, but it still wasn't working, so he took the stairs, and went back up to the bullpen, all the time with Annie close behind. He led her to his chair, and she sat down, still looking at him but not saying a word. Maybe she was disabled? He asked her questions about how she had gotten into a locked evidence locker, but she didn't answer and he was at a loss. He didn't know what to do. He supposed he'd have to call social services in the morning; they probably wouldn't be open now. He sat in silence, an unusual feet for him, and waited for morning, no doubt one of the team would comment on his appearance the next day. Against his will his eyes slipped shut, he dozed in McGee's chair.

Tony woke up to the sound of voices, and the colour of the light seeping through his closed eyelids told him it was almost dawn. He saw a man standing by Annie, the man helped the girl up and, began to walk away with her.

"Hey," Tony called out after them and the man turned. "Who are you?" Tony asked.

"I'm her father," the man said. Annie's father was short and slightly chubby, but his eyes were the same bright blue as his daughters, sharp and piercing.

"What happened," Tony asked. "I found her in a locked section of the basement."

"I'm not exactly sure," the man answered, "I work here, my wife was out of town for a few days and I had to bring her into work. She must have gotten lost."

Tony nodded. The explanation made a sort of sense, but something about it still jarred with him.

"You work here? I haven't seen you around much."

"I work in human resources, that's probably why."

"Oh, okay." The man turned and started walking away and Tony's eyes saw the man's back, and it made him freeze. The back of the man's expensive white tailored shirt was stained with blood. And not just a little, a lot. Tony knew he had to delay the man, there was something wrong here, and the little girl…..well something was odd there too.

"What's your name?" Tony called out to the retreating figures. The man turned back around to face Tony. "I mean, Annie told me her name, but I never found out her full name, or yours."

"I'm David Jackson," the man said to Tony. Suddenly Jackson's facial features shifted sharply and the man must have seen something in Tony's face that gave his misgivings away, some suspicion that must have leaked onto his face. Tony suddenly found himself pressed up against the wall by the elevator, but no-one was holding him there, at least not with their hands. He felt his throat being crushed although he could see nothing near his throat that could be causing it. He fought the panic rising within him as he choked and spluttered trying to get air into his lungs and circulating into his brain. The man, David stood there just a few feet away, expressionless, staring at him, and Tony found he could not draw his eyes away. Tony felt his legs and arms flail and jerk, as he struggled helplessly. Blackness descended over his vision, and he closed his eyes.

_A/N Thanks for reading, part 2 will be up in a tomorrow or the day after._


	2. Chapter 2

Previously...

_He fought the panic rising within him as he choked and spluttered trying to get air into his lungs and circulating into his brain. The man, David stood there just a few feet away, expressionless, staring at him and Tony found he could not draw his eyes away. Tony felt his legs and arms flail and jerk as he struggled helplessly. Blackness descended over his vision, and he closed his eyes._

Tony could no longer see and he found that sounds were amplified to him, the pounding of blood in his head and the gasping choking noises that he didn't notice making but were in fact coming from him.

"Stop." The young high voice barely registered in Tony's brain. Suddenly the pressure was lifted from his throat, his legs gave way, and he slumped to the ground. He sucked in huge gulps of air with his eyes closed. It was about 15 seconds before he became aware of anything, and the first sight he saw was Jackson holding Annie's arms and shaking her. The little girl was silent.

"Come on, we have to get going, we still have over 1000 jumps to make," the man said with urgency. Tony got up and pulled his gun out; silently he aimed at the back of Jackson's head.

"NCIS, freeze. You're not leaving here until I get some answers." The man stopped walking. "And you assaulted a federal officer," Tony added. At this the man laughed, but it was devoid of any humour.

"And you have proof of that I'm sure. By morning me and the girl will be gone."

"You're not leaving until I find out what's going on."

"You think you could stop me?" the man said questioningly.

"I have the gun," Tony pointed out. He felt the air around him begin to thicken but then it stopped abruptly,

"No," the little girl said, looking at David unflinchingly and he sighed unhappily.

"Fine. But if I tell you, you have to let us go afterwards." Tony was silent, he wasn't making a promise like that, but Jackson took it to be an affirmative.

"Right. I am from another dimension, and there are an infinite number of them. People can travel between them if they have the technology; however you can't just go straight from where you are to the one you want. You have to go through hundreds and even thousands of jumps, jumping from universe to universe until you get to the one you need. It is easy to get lost when jumping because if you make one wrong jump and you just keep getting further and further away from a universe you know. I've known people start jumping and never come back."

"So you're talking about parallel universes." Tony felt a bit sceptical.

"Crudely put, but yes."

"And you're just passing through here on one of your 'jumps' so you can get to the universe you want."

"Yes."

"What about Annie?"

"Oh, she's not alive, she's dead."

"Dead?" Tony said, "No way, I touched her, I held her hand, she's not a ghost."

"No, but neither is she alive. I brought her back from being dead because I need her. She has little vocabulary and is co-operative most of the time; the dead don't care much for the world of the living. They are in constant pain here, so although their powers are significantly more than ours, we control them. They have to really want something to use there powers." The man looked at Tony with hate and annoyance in his eyes. "She must like you for some reason; she doesn't usually stop me killing people who get in our way." Tony looked back at the man, and then at Annie, the two standing hand in hand looking at him.

"You shouldn't have brought her back if it's hurting her to be in this world."

"Why not? I don't care. She's not actually my daughter, and I need her to fight."

"To fight? She's only what, 4!"

"I doesn't matter what I need her for, it has nothing to do with you. As for her uses, they are considerable," he said.

"If you are from a parallel universe, does that mean there's another version of you and Annie in this dimension?"

"Who knows? We're going now, you have your answers," Jackson said and started to walk away again. Tony stood and watched them, not trying to stop them this time. He wanted to stop David Jackson taking Annie away to fight in a war. Tony shuddered when he thought about what uses they could have for her. But he also knew that he was powerless, and if he tried to stop them, he would just end up dead. The little demonstration with him pinned up against the elevator wall had proved that. The young girl was the only thing that had stopped him getting killed earlier. This Jackson obviously had some sort of darkness about him. Hell, for all Tony knew, everyone in the parallel universe had it. Jackson lifted his hand and pressed the button for the elevator, but Annie turned and looked back at Tony. Her eyes met his.

"It's a long way home," she said to him, and then stepped into the elevator, the doors sliding shut behind her. Tony stood alone in the silent bullpen, and as he thought of Annie, he felt his throat constrict, but this time there was no magic causing it.

Tony didn't know how long he stood staring at the elevator in silence, but when he became aware again of time passing, he came to the conclusion it was time to go home. Before he'd even taken a step though, a new idea stuck him and he went over to his desk and turned on his computer. He waited for it to boot up, and when it did, he pulled up an NCIS search box. He typed in the words; Annie, David, Jackson, death and hit enter. He watched the green bars go backwards and forwards for a few seconds before the search results came up. To his surprise there was a file, so he clicked the mouse and opened it.

There they were, a photo was at the top of the page and there was no doubt it was them. As Tony scrolled down the page reading, any joy he may have felt at finding the quickly evaporated. Annie was dead in this universe and her father, David Jackson was in jail for life for murder. Tony felt disappointment and tiredness seemed to set in. He gathered up his things and walked down to the car park in the basement. It was cold outside and the bright artificial lights reflected off the shiny surface of his expensive car, the only one still in the car park. He took his keys out of his pocket ready to unlock the door but his finger hesitated over the button. He was suddenly unsure. Maybe he would walk home? I want to… I need to think, he thought. I need to remember. I don't know if anyone else out there knows the story of this Annie, dead, but still forced to fight a war. Tony slipped his keys back into his pocket and walked out of the building, into the dark and the rain. This is me honouring her he thought and the rain running down his face hid the lone tear that escaped as he walked home, hands in his pocket, shoulders hunched over. It was a long walk home.

Finis.

Thanks for reading, tell me what you thought and review.


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